Shoe-bottom construction



H. GILSON SHOE BOTTOM. CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 14. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Aug. 23, 1927;

L. H. GILSON SHOE BOTTOM CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 14, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Patented Aug. 23,1927.

rarer Pris.

LORENZO H. GILSON, OF BROCKTOLL MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE-BOTTOM CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed February 14, 1923. Serial No. 818,944.

In the manufacture of welt shoes the innersole is formed with a proeCting sewing rlb about the margin of its iorepart and shank to which isstitched the upper and welt, this rib-often being formed by channelingthe sole along a line somewhat Within the margin and toward the marginand then lifting the inwardly inclined flap formed by 'this operation.vThis construction leaves 'an open marginal groove of triangular crosssection on the lower face of the insole which is bridged by the outsole. Wear of the shoe causes the innersole to become deformed so thatits lower face is supported throughout substantially its whole extent.on the out sole. This forms a gutter in the sock face of the innersolewithin the shoe which follows the weakened line of the channel andcauses the shoe to become uncomfortable. Attempts have been made tocorrect this condition by filling the open channel on the lower face ofthe innersole with ground cork, leather scraps or plastic filler. Thisis a troublesome operation and has not been successful in correcting thedifficulty because such fillers will creep, shift and pack under thepressure of the foot.

According to the present invention'a strip of leather, rubber, or anyother suitable material is formed or cut in cross section to the contourof the channel and is made fast therein. This is entirely eii'ective tocorrect the trouble above mentioned. This filler strip may be formed inlong lengths similar to thecontinuous or endless welt, it beingperfectly feasible to form or wind it on reels containing as much as1300 yards each. This avoids the necessity of cutting and fitting pieceswithin the channel of the shoe, and permits the utilization of thematerial without substantial waste, andwith the minimum of'time andtrouble for the shoemaker. f

As the finished strip, if formed from a single layer of leather, wouldrequire comparatively heavy and expensive stock, this invention alsocontemplates forming the filler strip of layers or laminations securedtogether, a ractical method of forming the built up strip havingbeen-devised.-

Fora more complete understanding of this invention, together withfurther objects, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings inwhich,-*

Figures 1 and 2 show side and edge vlews, respectively, of a strip ofleather to be used in forming a laminated filler strip.

Figures 3 and 4" are edge and side'views, respectively, showing themanner in which the laminations are cemented together to form acontinuous strip.

Figures 5 and 6 show the compound strip cut lengthwise to formcontinuous strips of the required width.

Figures 7 and 8 are perspective views showing the manner of cutting eachstrip diagonally to form a pair of finished channel filler strips.

Figure 9 is a perspective of a piece of the finished filler strip.

Figure 10 is a perspective of a package comprising a reel with thecontinuous filler strip wound thereon;

Figure'll is a lateral section through the sole portion of a shoesubstantially on line 11-11 of Figure 12 showing the channel fillerstrip in position.

Figure 12 is an inverted plan of a shoe before the sole has been appliedand showing the filler strip in position.

Referring first to Figures 11 and 12 at 1 is indicated an innersolehaving a marginal inseam-receiving rib 2 formed thereon, this rib beingformed-by channeling the lower face of the innersole as shown at 3 andlifting the flap formed by thechanneling operation. This lifting of theflap leaves an open triangular channel which is indicated at 4. The weltis indicated at 5 and is attaeher to the rib 2, the upper 6 and lining 7interp sed therebetween, by the inseam 8. The out sole 9 is attached tothe welt in the usual )1311118! by stitching 10. When no filler isemployed for the channel 4 it is "found that in use the innersole sagsinto the v space formedby the channel, its upper or sock face becomingindented or guttered, and its lower face, being supported by the outsole throughout substantially. its entire extent. This gutter or groovewhich develops on the upper face of the innersole causes the shoe tobe'uncomfortable to the.

wearer.

This invention, therefore, provides means for filling the channel in thelower face of the innersole so that it will not become deformed in thismanner. For this purpose a strip of material, such as leather, rubber,

- istherefore unnecessary to plece the strip the shoe is being made, butalso within the channel of the shoe, the strip being placed in positionin the channel and cut off as required, being preferably cemented inposition. This not. only eliminates the labor of piecing the materialwhen I revents the waste resulting from trimmings rom the individualshoes. The filler strip may, if desired, be'wound up on holdersconsisting of reels such as shown at 15 in Fi ure 10, and may be ofconsiderable length, it being usual in ractice of this invention to wind1300 yar s on a single r'eel. It may, of course, be packaged in anyother suitable or convenient way.

In case it is desired to form the filler I strip from laminationssecured together'this may be accomplished in the manner dis-' closed inFigures 1 to 8. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, 20 indicates a strip of.material thinner than the desired filler strip and considerably wider;These strips 20 are scarfed at their ends and may be cemented insuperposed face to face relation, the scarfed portions breaking jointsin adjacent laminations as shown in Figures 3 and 4. This forms acontinuous compound strip of the thickness required but of a width amultiple of the width of the desired filler strip. The purpose of forminin this manner is to save labor 1n the handling of material, each piececontaining stock forseveral finished strips, and to insure a properbond'between the laminations, this being more effectually accomplishedwhenthe strips are wider than the desired finished filler. The widestrip is then split up into strips of the finished width Figure 5showing the strips split once and Figure 6 showing each of these stripssplit again to form strips 22 rectan lar in cross section and of thewidth of the esired channel filler. Each of these strips is thensplitgi'alon 1g-'-* cross sectional diagonal, shown at 23 in ures 7 and8, to form a pair of strips 25 of triangular cross section of therequired dimensions, a ortion of the finished .strip being indicate inFi ure 9.. By this means a laminated strip 0 .triangularsection isproduced, the laminations lying parallel to one face of thestrip. Whiletwo laminations are shown, more might be used, ifdesired to build up thematerial to the required thickness. The method of building up a thestrip little, or no space, between the insole and outsole for theintroduction of the usual soft, ground-cork bottom filler. As a resultthe portion of the insole weakened by channeling-andthen trimming thechannel flap is adequately supported and its sock surface remains smoothand comfortable because a guttering of this surface along the line ofthe channel-is prevented because of the presence of the leather channelfiller which will not creep or become misplaced.

While the features of the invention have been shown and described intheir preferred embodiment, it will be understod that the invention maybe embodied otherwise than as shown in the drawings and described in thespecification and yet be within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus described an embodiment of this invention what is claimed asnew is:

1. In combination with a shoe having a channeled innersole presenting atriangular open channel, a strip of triangular cross section and uniformfrom end to end filling said channel. 2. In combination with a shoehaving a channeled innersole, a leather strip continusaid innersole andsaid outsole to support the substance of the innersole that forms thebottom of said channel and prevent a weargutter forming in the socksurface of the innersole.

. 4. A welt shoe having a bottom comprising a leather innersolepresenting a channel .area Within thesewing rib, a welt and an voutsole,and a leather channel strip paral ,leling the welt, said strip havinganouter edge face abutting the shoulder at the outer side of' thechannel area and an inner skived edge to form a substantially smooth.joint with the face of theinnersole at the inner side of the channelarea, thereby filling the channel area and affording a substantiallyflat and homogeneous tread surface within the welt and opposite theinner face of the outsoie; f

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature.

" LORENZO H. GILSON.

